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Business VoIP Providers

Residential VoIP Providers

Prevent VoIP Mistakes

The top 5 unexpected problems that might occur with a switch to VoIP can be
prevented with some foresight and planning. As
more small businesses recognize the tremendous value of VoIP and IP-PBX business
phone systems, and consider
switching their business communications to Internet phone lines, it will be
increasingly important to manage that transition smoothly and avoid the
potential pitfalls
that have inflicted others. Foremost of these problems are the following 5
VoIP issues.

Understanding
the limitations of a current technology is as important as knowing its
strengths. Good planning and wise implementation should be a
cornerstone with VoIP sales professionals, as well as those researching VoIP for
their communications needs. VoIP Mechanic believes that an educated
consumer is a better consumer. In addition there are vendors, suppliers
and providers who have good customer service and realize that helping people
makes them customers.

As we
present the following top 5 problems that can occur with a switch to VoIP;
consider how they might impact your business, and then take advantage of some of
the tips that we present that can help solve them.

The top 5 VoIP problems
and what you can do about them.

1) VoIP is far from the ideal medium for faxing.

Too many people and businesses that depend on faxing
for their livelihood find out too late how challenging faxing can be over a VoIP
connection.

Faxing over VoIP can be achieved with moderate success
after a few settings have been adjusted on the fax machine, for light users. These
VoIP Fax settings entail lowering the Baud rate to 9600 and
disabling ECM (error correction mode). You might also need to check
with your VoIP provider and ask which codecs they offer, as in most cases a G711
codec would be required for completing faxes. Businesses that need to
transmit long and detailed documents (over 4 pages) and material such as legal
contracts and documents with photos, should keep a regular phone line
(traditional copper line) for their
faxing requirements. Heavy fax users such as attorneys,
appraisers, and mortgage brokers should definitely keep a standard copper phone
line for their faxing capabilities.

If your business sends numerous faxes over 4 pages
and it is a critical part of your daily business routine, such as an appraiser,
attorney, or a mortgage broker, keep a regular land line for faxing. If
your Internet connection is DSL you probably will need to keep one active number
for that connection. Use it for faxing.

2) Most credit card machines fail when sending.

Most traditional older credit card machines use a dial-up modem for
sending out its data and dial-up modems do not work over VoIP. (Newer credit card machines can connect via Ethernet, a better choice
for the VoIP user.)

The codecs used by VoIP devices have been designed to compress voice, not the
analog signals sent and received by modems. Most existing credit card
machines operate with a dial up modem which does not work well over a VoIP
connection. Some users have had varying degrees of success using a credit
card machine over VoIP, but they are
probably using older machines that transmit at much slower speeds. If your
credit card machine connects via an ATA, check out our
Linksys ATA settings which can help
faxing and credit card machines. Others have
had almost no success, especially when the modem communicates to do its batch
processing. Too many total conversions of small businesses to VoIP lines have run into
major problems because they
did not realize that credit card machines and VoIP
do not work well together. Newer credit card machines now allow for an
Ethernet connection and these types of machines will work over VoIP, but they
are higher in cost. More about using credit
card machines over VoIP.

3) Alarm systems and VoIP; many may not integrate.

Although some alarm systems do integrate with and
can signal properly over VoIP, many cannot, although this has changed
significantly over the last two years.

Just because you don't have a problem right after conversion to VoIP, does not mean all is well.
Your alarm system now needs to seize the VoIP line to communicate with your
alarm company. Although VoIP service is excellent at voice communication
it is not suited for transmitting the data from many alarm systems. In
fact, many alarm companies will refuse customers who use VoIP.
Check with the alarm company that you use and ask specific questions as to their
devices compatibility with VoIP. Not doing so can ultimately
lead to problems, both for your VoIP connection and for your security.

Also elevator phones may have special state codes and require a dedicated copper
line.

4) VoIP always up & always on, maybe not always.

VoIP connections are dependant on an active
connection to the Internet. Although most converts to
VoIP understand this, many people think that a UPS is going to prevent any and
all interruptions. The use of a UPS can keep your modem and ATA
powered should you experience a temporary power loss, but in most cases will
only provide power for a short duration. In larger power outages
most cable providers will go down, as they depend on the power company to supply
power to their cable plant and the amplifiers that powers some of their
equipment. In this event, if you have broadband cable you will loose your
Internet and consequentially your VoIP service.

As our Internet providers become more stable and reliable we have seen a
great improvement in their service over the last few years. But sporadic
loss of Internet, something referred to as a local outage, can be expected
anywhere from time to time. Unfortunately, some locals are afflicted more
than others, so plan accordingly. If you loose your Internet you will
loose the ability to make outgoing calls. Incoming calls should still go
to your voicemail, so you should still be able to call those parties back at a
later time.

Some VoIP providers have a feature where your VoIP
number will automatically become forwarded in the event of non-registration. This means that what ever reason your ATA becomes unregistered with
the provider, through a loss of Internet or being disconnected, your calls will
now automatically get forwarded instantly to a preset number, like your cell
phone. When the ATA registers again, calls route normally right back to
the VoIP phone. This can alleviate missed calls during an outage.

5) Voice quality issues, sometimes there's some.

New technology gives us new benefits and presents
new issues. It's amazing how far and stable our computers and
Internet connections have become in such a short duration. It wasn't long
ago when just getting a local access number for a dial up connection was an
achievement. Now we have calls being routed all over the world almost
instantly through an Internet connection. But, as all this traffic gets
routed and sent along numerous paths, there can be issues that can develop on a
daily basis. An accident at a construction site where a major piece of
fiber gets cut, or a large router has a component go bad. These things do
happen from time to time, and in most cases it is a short lived event.
But, you may from time to time experience some consequences as a result of these
types of mishaps. The good news is that the Internet works better than we
could have imagined, the bad news is that you may hear some static, have a call
drop or experience some audio problems on occasion. VoIP is making
improvements all the time, its quality is getting better all the time.

Use
our VoIP tutorials to fix common known issues, which should improve your quality for
many common complaints and talk to your providers tech support.

information

The best VoIP installations are the ones where these
issues were addressed beforehand.

Some Good Advice

For small businesses that are thinking of installing VoIP consider these 5
issues and how they might affect your business. Major cost savings can be
accomplished through a switch to VoIP and also through a partial VoIP solution.
Keeping one, two or more copper lines, depending on your business size can still
bring many benefits, including financial and keep your business moving smoothly.

Considering VoIP? Then pick a team that will guide you through the
process with foresight and planning. It makes a difference.